Underdog
by E. Limberg
Summary: Stella is upset about a case that reminds her of her past, and Mac tries to make her feel better. Trying cheer her up, he takes a big step in their relationship, which may have negative consequences for them later. Jonas Brothers' song used. Mac/Stella


**Underdog**

"_She's an underdog_

_Lives next door to me_

_She's always heard you won't amount to anything_

_And it kills me to watch the agony beyond her eyes_

_Tragic the way people pass her by_

_But now I realize"_

Stella quickly exits the interrogation room before her emotions can take over. A few moments later Mac follows, finding her a little way down the hall where no one would see her. Slowly he approaches her, putting a comforting hand on her arm. "Will you be okay?"

She hesitates before shaking her head. "I know what he went through. His step father always told him he was worthless; my foster parents would say the same thing to me. Except he snapped and killed him while I just took it."

"If he tells the jury what he told us, they won't go too hard on him."

"But his future will be ruined. It'll always be on his record. Mac, it isn't fair," she lets her tears fall, not caring anymore.

He is temporarily shocked, sure he'd only seen her cry at Claire's funeral. When he focuses again, he wraps his arms timidly around her slender frame. "Life can't always be fair. Things will work out for him," he whispers.

"I can't testify on this one. Not against him."

Understanding, he nods, pulling her closer to him as she relaxes against him. "I'll make sure you don't have to."

A few minutes later she pulls back, "I'm okay."

"You aren't worthless, Stel. You hold our team together."

"Don't say things just to make me feel better, Mac."

"Let me prove it to you; have dinner with me tonight."

"I…"

"Please."

She wipes her eyes, sniffling. "Okay."

"I'll pick you up at seven. Go home. We can manage without you."

"Sure?"

"For two hours… we'll be fine."

"_That everyone sees her_

_But nobody knows her_

_She screams in her pillow_

_For a better tomorrow_

_She hates it_

_But she takes it_

_Watch out for that girl_

_One day she may change the world"_

"You look wonderful, Stel," he tells her. Her dress is simple and black, but it accents her body.

"You don't have say things that aren't true."

"I mean it. Sometimes I forget you are a woman because you're not like other women."

She doesn't comment.

"Have you started dating again?" Mac asks.

She shakes her head slightly, hoping he wouldn't notice. The only man she is interested in is sitting across from her.

"Not every man is out to hurt you," he gently tells her.

"Everyone except you is."

"Stel…" he hates when she has to be difficult.

"I just don't think I can bring myself to trust another guy. Frankie just… took away too much of me." Stella protectively wraps her arms around herself. "I trust Danny and Sheldon and Don and Sid… and Adam… and you obviously. But anyone else… I… I can't do it. I can't go through that again."

"I just want you to be happy, Stella."

"I'm fine, Mac. Dinner was great. I… we have work tomorrow. We should probably be going."

When they get back to her building, Mac walks her up. "We should do this again sometime. I enjoy spending time with you." He leans in to kiss her cheek, but she turns her head as he does so. Their lips meet.

"I… sorry." She pulls away, blushing, and turns to open her door.

He follows her inside, kissing her again, much to her surprise. This time she doesn't pull back from him.

"_She's original_

_Never trying to fit in_

_She's got a way to always go_

_Against the grain_

_Oh, yeah_

_Someday they'll see how beautiful she really is_

_I know that last will be the first_

_The table is going to turn 'cause"_

Stella's alarm goes off at six-thirty, waking her from a deep sleep. She turns it off and rolls over onto her back. Yawning, she stretches, but stops abruptly.

_What happened last night? _She remembers Mac walking her up to her apartment, but everything after that is kind of fuzzy. Why was she naked in her own bed?

She had taken a shower before going out for dinner so she wouldn't have taken another and gone to bed without putting pajamas on. She went out with to dinner with Mac and came straight home. No other men were involved. She wouldn't have slept with Mac… would she?

The logical part of her brain says she'd never sleep with Mac. He was her boss. And her best friend. Why would she sleep with him? The romantic part of her brain says yes, she'd love to wake up in his arms.

Feeling a headache forming, she closes her eyes to think. He leaned in to kiss her and their lips met. But why'd he kiss her? She couldn't remember why, but he did it again. She can also recall being lifted up and carried somewhere.

Whatever had happened between her and Mac seemed to be completely voluntary. She can't remember trying to fight him off.

When it finally hits her, she starts to panic. _What is he going to think? Will he completely ignore what happened? Are we still going to be friends?_

But two questions really bother her: _Did he use protection? Because I can't be pregnant, even if it is Mac's baby. Then again, it's Mac; of course he did. Although he hasn't been around too many women lately to carry that stuff with him. I sure hope he carries some in his wallet._

But most of all: _Why didn't he stay?_

"_Everyone sees her_

_But nobody knows her_

_She screams in her pillow_

_For a better tomorrow_

_She hates it_

_But she fakes it_

_Watch out for that girl_

_One day she may change the world"_

Mac enters his office with his cup of coffee. When he sees her in his chair, he freezes in the doorway. "Stella, what can I do for you?" he cautiously asks. They hadn't really spoken since that night.

"I'm late," she simply says.

He looks at his watch, "You're shift doesn't start for half an hour."

"Not that kind of late. It's…" she doesn't know how to say it.

Realization hits him moments later. "How late?"

"A day."

"You're pregnant?"

"I have to be. I'm never late."

"Stel," he begins.

She cuts him off. "I can't be pregnant, Mac. It was just a… a thing. You know… one time. It was an accident, you trying to make me feel better. We aren't serious about each other. I mean we're not dating or anything. What is everyone going to think?"

"Stella-"

"What were you thinking, Mac? I can't believe you didn't use protection. I thought you were smarter than that. I thought we were both smarter than that. How did we let this happen?"

"I did-"

"You've always been the one to keep me safe, and then this happens."

He grabs her shoulders, which causes her to shut her mouth, frowning at him for touching her. "I used protection, Stella. I swear. The baby can't be mine."

"Well I haven't been with anyone else since Frankie, and I don't think I'd just now be getting pregnant with his baby."

Taking a moment to study her, he discovers that she looks ready to burst into tears. Tentatively he pulls her into a hug, which she gratefully accepts. "Have you taken a test yet, Stel?"

She shakes her head, "I'm too scared."

"You don't have to be. I'll be there for you. We'll take care of things."

"I'm not having an abortion, Mac," Stella pulls away sharply.

"I didn't mean that." He pulls out twenty dollars from his wallet and hands it to her. "Go to the store, get a test or two, and take them. Let's not worry about things until we know for sure."

"Mac, I already told you I have to be."

"Please, just do this, Stel. If it's negative, we'll both be relieved and move on with our lives. If not, I'll support you in whatever you want to do. We just have to know for sure before we do anything."

"Fine," she accepts the money. "And thanks for… understanding, Mac."

"_Maybe she'll be in a movie_

_Maybe she'll be in a song_

_Better pay her some attention_

_Before she's gone_

_She's an underdog_

_She means the world to me"_

"So…" The ten minutes are almost up; they have been the longest in his life.

At the moment, she is angry at him and doesn't reply. Her mind keeps switching back and forth between anger and embarrassment. He shouldn't have done that to her knowing she was feeling vulnerable. Then again, she didn't try to stop him.

He seems to be able to read her mind. "Stel… I'm sorry… about what happened between us. It's all my fault for starting it." That sure didn't come out the way he wanted it to. He really meant to tell her how he felt.

"No, I should've had enough sense to stop you," she focuses on her hands.

His watch beeps, signaling the end of the ten minutes. "You look first."

With trembling hands, she reaches for the first test. "Negative," she sighs in relief. "You look at those two."

Mac picks them both up. "Negative on both. I… I'm so glad we don't have to deal with that."

"I should get to work. Sorry for wasting your time," she stands up.

"It wasn't a waste of time. I'm sure you'll… be back to normal soon." Hearing his own words, he closes his eyes. What a horrible thing to say to her. "What I meant to tell you is I… I… I'll talk to you later."

Feeling awkward around him, she leaves quickly. Danny catches her on the way to her office. "What were you two doing in there all morning?"

"Oh, paperwork."

"With the blinds closed?"

"He didn't want any distractions. It had to be done by eleven."

Danny doesn't believe her but stops questioning. "So did he give you another case to start or are you going to help us out?"

"Give me ten minutes and I'll meet you in the layout room."

"_Everyone sees her_

_But nobody knows her_

_She screams in her pillow_

_For a better tomorrow_

_She hates it_

_But she makes it_

_Watch out for that girl_

_One day she may change the world"_

"We need to talk," Mac says when she opens her apartment door later that night.

"About what? I'm not pregnant. You can just go back to ignoring me. We were perfectly fine for a while."

"You can't just shut me out, Stella."

"Yes, I can."

"No. I need you, and you need me. We're supposed to be there for each other."

She glares at him, "Why do you think I need someone? I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I don't need you or anyone else. Tell them to just leave me alone."

"Because as much as you hate to admit it, even you need someone to depend on. If you don't want that someone to be me, fine. But you need someone."

Stella keeps her mouth shut, focusing on the wall behind him while trying not to let him see the pain in her eyes.

"If I made a mistake, let me know, Stel. We were so close, and I enjoyed that. Then… we shut each other out. Where did we go wrong?"

"Things can never go back to normal, Mac. We made a mistake, and I almost had to suffer for it. I knew I shouldn't have agreed to have dinner with you."

"I don't think it was a mistake," he says quietly, and she is barely able to hear it. "Stella… I love you. I have for a long time. This has made me realize that I shouldn't hide how I feel about you."

"I… I… Mac…"

"You must feel it too. I mean you didn't try to stop me," he tries to reason. "Stel, just… I love you. And if you don't love me, tell me. I understand. Besides, we… probably shouldn't date after all since we work together. But if you are interested, I will. I don't care what they think."

"Why didn't you stay?" she asks quietly.

"Stay when?"

"I woke up the next morning, and you were gone."

"I guess I figured that if I was gone we could just forget about it and pretend like nothing happened. I never would've thought that you'd think you were pregnant because I was positive I used protection."

"I thought someday I'd be able to work up the courage to tell you how I feel about you. That's why I haven't started dating again." She looks him in the eyes, "I do need you, Mac. You're the best friend I've ever had."

He opens his arms to embrace her, which she gratefully accepts. "Maybe we should start over. But this time we'll go slower." Pulling back a little to see her face, he asks, "Would you like to join me for dinner tomorrow evening?"

She smiles, "I'd love to."

"Stel, I don't mean to be… I don't know how to say it. Are you positive you're not pregnant? Maybe you should go see a doctor or something. All those tests could've been wrong. I know I used protection, but it was probably in my wallet for a while so it could have had a hole in it or something."

"Mac, I'm positive. Don't worry about it anymore."

"_Everyone sees her_

_But nobody knows her_

_She screams in her pillow_

_For a better tomorrow_

_She hates it_

_But she makes it_

_Watch out for that girl_

_One day she may change the world"_

**A/N: I got bored so I decided to post another story. Kind of a sad one, but... it ended happily. Let's see... my next one is only one chapter too. It's called Now Comes the Night after the song, and it's quite sad. I'd like to say it's inspired by the hundreth episode, but I had it finished before that aired. Then... hm... oh, the three chapter Christmas thing. I can't come up with a title for that. I don't know why. So the one chapter thing will probably be posted by like next Sunday. Then the three chapter thing will all be up by Christmas Eve maybe I'll put the last chapter on. After that... I don't know. So... I don't fell like doing homework. I think health is the only thing I don't have something to do for. But physics and calculus and spanish shouldn't take too long. And the questions for chemistry won't either. Just finished the lab question will, and maybe English, and maybe playing my flute. I don't even know what parts we have to play this week. Anyway... I hope you liked this story. Please tell me what you thought of it.**


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